Most Innovative Companies - Fast Company

MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES LIST

If you haven’t read the cover story for Fast Company this month it’s well worth the time.  It’s the World’s Most Innovative Companies issue for 2016.  The big news is the startling shake-up – only six companies on the list are holdovers from 2015.  That factoid underscores the difficulty of sustaining a competitive advantage with innovation in the face of the overbearing and upending pace of change.

Is it any wonder why from boardrooms to shop floors, conversations focus on creating a culture that will unleash the power of every person in the organization?  Technology may drive business but people are at the center of the effort to apply it creatively.

TOP SPEAKERS ON INNOVATION

Three D'Amelio Network experts address the leadership, organizational and strategic issues associated with making innovation an everywhere, all-the-time thing.  Here is some news on all three:

MIKE ABRASHOFF is a former Navy commander.  His book, It's Your Ship, has sold over a million copies.  Mike led the fabled turnaround of the USS Benfold - a ship that was near-worst in the fleet when he took command.  Twelve months later the Benfold was the best in the fleet -- using the same crew!  An amazing turnaround.  Mike spoke for the Detroit Economic Club last week.  He shared powerful lessons learned about innovation, organizational reinvention and leading change. His talk got this reaction from the organizer:

• “Thanks so very much for a great day!!  Sold out crowd, standing ovation, and every book sold!!  Your story is awesome. Your lessons powerful . . . like you. Thank you for sharing your time and lessons with us.”

While in Detroit Mike did a radio interview on the Paul W. Smith Show.  He spoke about further about the challenges he has faced as Commander of the Benfold.

POLLY LaBARRE is one of the founding writers for Fast Company.   She's spent her career looking for the most innovative companies. She has sought out the mavericks in business who are winning big by doing things differently.  Polly spoke to one of the world’s biggest business consulting firms in Montreal on Saturday and generated lots of buzz.  She asked the big question: is this firm capable of changing as fast as change itself?  It’s an intriguing question.  Here’s a video clip of Polly putting forth her ideas on this topic to another audience in late 2015.

GEOFF COLVIN is the Fortune magazine senior editor-at-large.   Geoff is also author of the new book Humans are Underrated.  In it Geoff looks at a world where technology is eliminating more jobs than it creates.   Robots and smart technology is fabulous, but the most innovative companies are also finding ways to leverage the human element.  Last Friday Geoff wrote a piece in The New York Times: The Skills of Human Interaction Will Become Most Valuable in the Future.  The foundation of innovation, he said, is the ability to build teams, to tell stories, to be creative and to empathize.  These are human qualities that organizations are now devoting time to nurture in their people.  Continuing that theme, Geoff also wrote How the World's Most Admired Companies Weather Chaotic Markets for Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies issue.